It's weird that they're bringing it to steam when BF2 (and possibly 1, idk) is already on steam. That's very much In the realm of we'll see if/how mods break next update. Everything else looks like a port to a new console so that's cool. (Correction: There shouldn't be a steam update. See edit 2. Also BF1 is on steam)
The mod tools ought to work (in the sense of being able to munge lua/msh to useful places) unless they actually have made meaningful changes to the engine. I don't think there's anything in the advert to suggest they have, though. Presumably online support can be done with tools that were in the engine before, and the bonus content could all be handled like an addon.
Remaster bingo suggestion (because I know they'll be tempted):
[list][*]Kit Fisto's force bubble uses the droideka shield as a hud icon[/list]
Edit: Is it just me, or does the trailer look like they've made some changes to the lighting? Maybe there is a bit more going on.
Edit 2: It also looks like this is coming out as it's own release, so there may not even be an update to the old versions of the games. In which case there's no impact on modding. I just hope they don't take the old games down to promote sales of the remaster, or change their stance on what modders are allowed to do (at the moment, there's nothing to worry about).
Also the first thing I would do, if I wanted to make a switch mod for example, is I would try to determine what the sound memory limit is. If we're lucky, all the ports will have the larger memory limits that the pc version has because modern consoles should be able to handle it. That depends on how it's been ported.
Edit 3: I'm curious about the animation memory now. They say they've added Hero Assault to every map. Whenever modders put Kit Fisto or Asajj Ventress in a Hero Assault, we switch them to basic stock animations because we can't fit their normal animations alongside all the other jedi animations in memory. If this remaster puts Kit Fisto and Ventress in Hero Assault with their normal animations, that would be legitimately impressive.
Edit 4: (Ignore this. See edit 5) It's been a few days. First update is that the Kit Fisto/Asajj Ventress original animations probably aren't in the pc Hero Assault missions. People have freeze-framed trailer footage of Ventress using Aayla Secura's animations, so I guess Aspyr ran into the same memory limitation that modders always do. There are also freeze-frames of Ventress where she does have her original animations (also in Hero Assault), which I have a hunch is xbox footage. It would make sense for the new xbox ports to be built on the old xbox version (which I guess had a higher animation memory limit? I don't know why it was possible to fit the animations in the original xbox version. But a lot of these memory limits are defined by the game engine, rather than an actual hardware limitation). I found these freeze-frames through IGN, but I won't comment on that. (Ignore this. See edit 5)
This increases my suspicion that the pc version of the remaster doesn't involve any changes to the game engine. The online is new (I think, I've never taken an interest in online before. Certainly Aspyr will be running new servers). Other than that, I'm not currently expecting the pc remaster to have any technical/modding potential that the old games don't. That's maybe even an unfair expectation, because these games have been modded for years. I think I'd understand the remaster a lot more, if it wasn't handled on steam as a rerelease, because I just don't get what sets it apart from mods that already exist (other than online), and I find that a bit awkward. (Updated in edit 5)
I stand by the fact that any port to a new console is a good thing, in case this post was a bit too critical.
(Ignore this. See edit 6) My second update - I'd be hesitant to mod the new Aspyr stuff until I'm more familiar with their EULA. They're definitely accepting of mods, so that's a good sign. I just don't know how to interpret their paragraph where sending them mods would give Aspyr complete license to reproduce, sell, create derivate works etc. It may be stuff that's in every EULA, just written more clearly here, but I find it a bit off-putting at the moment. (Ignore this. See edit 6)
Edit 5: Well now Aspire have told IGN that the trailer is made with old footage from before development was finished. So I've actually got no idea if the engine on pc has been modified or not, or how different the new release of the game will be. (Though currently, I see no evidence of any engine alterations on the pc version)
Edit 6: Follow up to my concerns about the EULA: The battlefront modtools already give lucasarts (or whoever owns it all now) the right to sell, distribute or alter any mods which are made. So actually there isn't anything interesting in the Aspyr EULA. I've always taken for granted that mods we make won't be sold by lucasarts/disney, just on the basis that they've never done it before. There's no reason to believe that they'll start doing it now. (I'm the last person it would affect either way, because I never release anything apart from the occasional asset)
Edit 7: It's been a while since my laat edit and now the classic collection will be released in 2 days. The more time that's passed, the more I've realised that I'm not that impressed by it (just talking about the pc version). But nonetheless, I have another update to this thread for anyone that is interested.
First of all, there's been an extended trailer released and a lot of the new scenes look visually better than the stuff that was there before. I don't know if that's an indication that the new scenes were recorded later in development, or if it's just a coincidence. Definitely worth a look.
Second, and this news has been around for a while, the classic collection has a significantly larger file size than the original games. Couldn't tell you why; lead theory is that it's due to the ai upscaled textures/videos. (In my case this means I couldn't get it even if I wanted to; I tend to play old games because they're low file size, low performance requirements. This might not matter to anyone else though).
I'll keep an eye on this thread in case it turns out that the classic collection contains something surprising, that makes it possible to make mods that weren't possible before (a tall order). Otherwise, I think all the real potential is in the new console ports.